A sentencing hearing Thursday for an old man who killed a young man in a car accident turned into a gut-wrenching, therapy-like session among the judge, attorneys, victim's dad and brother, and defendant and his wife.

Ronald Lee Haggen, 67, of Detroit, was sentenced to 10 months in jail and five years probation after pleading no contest to manslaughter for the Aug. 2 crash in Fraser that killed Ryan Roberts, 22, and injured his twin, Drew Roberts.

Pain, sorrow and regret were expressed tearfully during the approximately one-hour hearing in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

Forgiveness was not.

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Roberts' father, Barry, turned to Haggen, who was sitting in a chair, and told him, "I can't mince words. I can never forgive you. I'm just being honest. This is the first time I've looked at you. What has happened to me, my wife, Laura, my daughter, Brittany, changed our lives forever. People who have known us forever avoid us because they don't know what to say."

He also described his deep sadness and anger at the loss of one of his three children.

"You never think anything like this could happen to your children," he said. "Your honor, I have so much anger."

Haggen suffered a diabetic seizure and lost consciousness while driving a Chevy Monte Carlo and was speeding as he passed two other motorists on southbound Hayes Road and sideswiped one of them, before crashing into the rear of the twins' Pontiac Sunfire at the 15 Mile Road intersection. Haggen had .04 percent blood-alcohol content but says he does not recall the three- to four-hour gap between his dinner and the crash at 11:35 p.m.

Ryan Roberts and his brother were returning to their Fraser home from a movie at MJR theater in Sterling Heights.

Roberts said he was surprised one of his boys informed him they were going to the late movie. "I said, 'You're crazy. Be careful.'"

Ryan graduated from Fraser High School, where he played football, and only three months before from Central Michigan University with a finance degree.

He said in court while no sentence will bring back his son, he asked Judge Mary Chrzanowski for some type of incarceration. The sentencing guideline range went from probation to two years. Manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Haggen, a husband and father of seven children, had no criminal record.

"Nothing you sentence this man to is going to make us feel better but I do believe he deserves time in jail," Roberts said. "You have to do something for our family. We need to start to close. We need to start a new chapter of our lives. We need it. My wife needs it."

Assistant Macomb prosecutor Steven Fox, also asked for incarceration.

Haggen was allowed to report Monday to the Macomb County Jail due to his medical condition.

Chrzanowski, in a rare gesture that drew sobs and tears from some of the two dozen family members and other onlookers, stepped down from her perch and walked into the courtroom gallery to talk to Ryan's twin, who in a letter to the judge took some of the blame for the incident because he was the one who wanted to go to the movie.

"You have to live your life ... that it was not your fault," she told him, as he choked back tears. "You need to move on with your life. That's what your brother would want. He wants you to live your life.

She touched his shoulder. "Your brother is sitting right there. He's sitting on everybody's shoulder."

Harris and Fox applauded the judge's maneuver, which they have never seen before.

"I think it was a wonderful act," Fox said. "I hope they take the advice. I know it came from the heart."

"Judges are human, too," Harris said. "I think it was exceptional of her."

Haggen's wife, Jacqueline, said she benefitted from the hearing and judge.

"I would like to thank you for your words to the family because it helps me," she told the judge.

Haggen apologized in a statement and expressed remorse, shock and sorrow in a pre-sentence report, some of which was read by his attorney, Warren Harris.

Shaking and crying, he turned toward the Roberts family, "I'm so, so, so sorry. I did not mean to do this. I'm a good man."

Jacqueline Haggen said she and her husband have been together for 35 years. "He cries every night," she said. "We pray for that family every night."

Ryan's father Barry said that the incident has spurred him to look at a campaign promoting passage of a law to require drivers with diabetes to follow certain procedures and not drive under certain conditions. Haggen was unconscious when found by first-responders.

According to the American Diabetes Association's web site, Michigan does not have any laws relating to diabetics. It does address drivers who lose consciousness. "The license will be suspended or revoked if loss of consciousness is ongoing, has happened within the preceding six months, or the condition is deteriorating," the web site says. It says the license can be reinstated if no episodes occur for six months and the driver is cleared by his or her physician.

The family went from the courthouse to visit Ryan's grave at Resurrection Funeral Home in Clinton Township.